


Strawberry Avalanche

by kathillards



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Megaforce
Genre: F/M, collection of drabbles, set during and after megaforce
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2015-10-02
Packaged: 2018-03-14 21:44:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 12,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3426623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kathillards/pseuds/kathillards
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Are you gonna kiss me or what?" ―- TroyEmma, in twenty different ways.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. blush

**Author's Note:**

> back in the day, there used to be a challenge going around the fandom: write a certain number of drabbles for one couple, following these theme prompts. it was called the ars amatoria ranger romance themes challenge, and it has, unfortunately, been taken down. i decided to come up with my own, using a prompts list i already had, and i wanted to do something for troy and emma, as i miss them dearly.
> 
> there will be twenty prompts to this, if all goes well, with a possibility for more or different series later if i can finish this one. i don't know how many megaforce writers and readers are still out there, but i hope you'll all enjoy.
> 
> title credit to the song strawberry avalanche by owl city. no particular setting for this one, just sometime during their seasons.

Getting the cutest, broodiest superhero this side of Harwood County to turn the color of his suit is no easy task on the best of days, but Emma’s always liked a challenge. Troy is always so focused, so intense in his pursuit of perfection, that getting through his steely exterior to the soft superhero heart within is a puzzle she looks forward to solving.

She starts with compliments.

“Nice tie,” she tells him when the boys come to pick her and Gia up at Gia’s house the night of the Spring Fling. All of them are dressed in black-and-white tuxedos with neckties in their favorite colors. Jake is lost in a daze at Gia’s short yellow dress and Noah is too busy being amused by his best friend to notice the two of them.

“Thanks, Emma,” is all Troy says, calmly and kindly as always. He flashes her the barest of grins sidelong and adds after a heartbeat of silence, “You look nice, too.”

Emma stews on that all through the limo ride. _Nice_ is clearly not a weighty enough adjective.

“Dance with me?” she asks later that night, both of them left standing by the refreshments table – Jake has coaxed Gia into just one dance and Noah has found himself a pretty redhead girl who’s enchanted by his nerdiness.

“I’m not much of a dancer,” he replies, steadily, of course, but he shoots her one quick glance out of the corner of his eye before resuming his surveyance of the dance floor. It’s almost nervous, in an endearing sort of way.

Emma nudges his shoulder, feeling the puzzle pieces start to click and slide into place. “You can beat up water bottles but you can’t dance?”

Troy grins reluctantly. “One dance,” he says, and she beams, taking his hand and pulling him out onto the dance floor.

He’s a perfect gentleman, naturally, keeping both hands exactly on her waistline and swaying just in time to the music. Emma settles her hands around his shoulders and sighs wistfully as she watches Jake twirl Gia past them in a flurry of yellow and black, both of them laughing.

“I told you I’m not a good dancer,” Troy says apologetically.

Emma shakes her head. “No, you’re fine,” she promises. “It just seems like you’re not having fun.”

Troy blinks at her. “I’m having a great time,” he insists. “I mean – okay, so I’m not as good at having fun as Jake is,” he admits, eyeing Jake as he lifts Gia up into the air and spins her around. “But I – I enjoy your company.”

Emma giggles. “You’re such an old-fashioned gentleman,” she teases, drawing closer as the song eases to an end. “It wouldn’t kill you to lighten up a little, you know.”

Troy half-smiles bashfully. “I’ll try,” he says, slipping one hand across her waist and up her back. His touch is unerringly gentle on her bare skin, and before she has time to get used to the warmth of his fingers, he’s spinning her around and dipping her down, lower and lower till her hair brushes the floor.

She stares up at him, wide-eyed and breathless. “You _liar_ ,” she accuses with a smile crossing her face. “You _are_ a good dancer.”

Even Jake and Gia have paused in their dance to stare at her and Troy in amazement. Emma feels her face heating up from the attention as Troy grins and helps her to her feet.

“I’ve been classically trained,” he admits, offering her his arm to exit the dance floor. “It’s just been a while. I guess I’m not used to dancing with pretty girls.”

Her cheeks flush brighter as he goes to fill her a glass of punch. Maybe she didn’t win her own challenge of getting him to blush, but she’s pretty sure she won the night, anyway.


	2. fairy

Halloween the year after the Legendary Battle is surprisingly lacking in costumes. For a group of people who’ve spent two years wearing multiple superhero costumes, Troy supposes it’s natural. Even he feels fatigue just thinking about getting into some ridiculous outfit and going to the Halloween Fest at the mall.

Of course, Emma has her ways. All six of them end up in the park outside the mall that Halloween night, watching the children go running by as witches and werewolves and superheroes.

“Look, I see a red ranger!” Emma tells him, leaning over so he can hear her over the noise. Jake and Noah are taking bets on how many blue and green rangers they’ll find in the crowd, while Gia is explaining about a thousand years of Earth folklore to Orion as simply as she can. Everyone around them is laughing and calling out to their friends, the shrieks of children and shouts of parents filling the air.

“I’ve seen like five pink rangers,” he retorts, grinning at her. “You’re quite the influence on little girls.”

Emma smiles softly, settling back on their park bench as she watches a pink ninja ranger go running by. “Everyone deserves someone to look up to,” she murmurs, fiddling with the lace edges of her fairy princess dress. “I’m glad I could inspire them.”

“You’re an inspiration to everybody,” he tells her honestly, watching her face carefully as her smile brightens, just a bit. “All of us included.”

She sighs and tilts her head so her hair brushes over his shoulder. He hasn’t got a costume, though he’s discarded his leather jacket because Harwood County is nothing if not warm, even in October. “I just kind of miss it.”

“Being a Ranger, or being a little kid?” Troy asks, trying not to focus on the places where strands of her hair are tickling the skin of his collarbone or where her bare legs under her dress are pressed up against his. The orange and golden glow of Halloween lights only make everything more atmospheric, and he’s pretty sure the other four are watching the two of them now.

“Both,” Emma laughs. “Mostly being a Ranger. We were part of something special and now – now all we have left is Halloween costumes.”

He goes silent for a moment, mulling over her words. “Maybe,” he agrees finally. “But we’ll always have the memory. And each other.”

“Really?” she sighs, looking up at him doubtfully. “Because – we’re going off to college next year. And we’ll never get another chance like the last two years. We’ll never be those people again. Nothing’s going to stay the same, Troy.”

“Maybe it doesn’t have to,” he points out, shifting around so he’s staring at her instead of at the children running around. He hears Gia giggle behind him and Jake whisper something about kissing loudly to Noah, but determinedly ignores the sounds of his friends. “We might not have the power ever again but – maybe things will change for the better.”

Emma exhales slowly. “You’re right,” she says, looking up at the stars blanketing the sky above them. “I mean – I’m just being nostalgic. Of course things will still be good. They won’t ever be like that, but they’ll be good.”

“Maybe better than good,” he adds, smiling when she looks back at him. “Maybe – maybe a lot better than good.”

“What do you mean – ” Emma begins, but he cuts her off, leaning in and pressing his lips to hers. Maybe it was the subtle pressure from their friends on the benches behind him, or maybe it was the lights, or maybe it was just Emma and her smile and her warm brown eyes.

Maybe it’s the way she tastes like cinnamon and strawberry, or the way she smiles when they part, both of them breathless, but Troy knows that there’s no maybe about it – this is better than good.


	3. rose

Emma kneels down to set her camera directly in the line of the beautiful pink rose blooming on a bush just outside the park, angling the lens to get the best shot of its petals. It’s the only rose blossoming yet; everything else on the bush is still just a rosebud, and she wants to get the perfect picture –

“Hey, Emma.”                            

She jumps and nearly drops her camera at the sound of Troy’s voice behind her. Whirling around, she finds him smiling apologetically at her, clearly not having intended to startle her.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you,” he says quickly, reaching out to take her arms and steady her. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” she huffs, brushing down her clothes as she straightens up. “I was just trying to take a picture of this rose. What are you doing here?”

Troy looks at the grass as if it’s very interesting. “Nothing,” he mumbles. “Just – wandering around. Mind if I stay and watch?”

“Sure,” she says, frowning at his oddity, but deciding to turn back around and resume her photography instead of pursuing it. “Gia was around here earlier, she might be able to give you more interesting company,” she offers, kneeling back down to the ground and aiming her camera at the rose again.

Troy coughs behind her. “You’re interesting company,” he says, his voice drawn quiet and low, like he’s telling her a secret. “Besides, I – I wanted to ask you something.”

 _Snap!_ Emma surveys the picture she’s taken with a critical eye before smiling and standing up.

“What’d you want to ask me?” she asks when she’s facing him again. Now that she’s looking at him, he seems oddly nervous, a strange departure from his usually stoic and steady personality.

“Well,” Troy says, exhaling slowly. “It’s – you know that – prom’s coming up, and…we don’t really hang out much, all of us, since we lost our powers and – ”

“Troy,” Emma laughs, stepping closer. “Of course, we’ll all go to prom together. We might not be rangers, but we’re still friends, right?”

He swallows. “Right, but I – that’s not what I…meant,” he says quietly.

Emma blinks at him. “Then what did you – ”

“Emma,” Troy says, her name soft on his lips, “would you like to go to prom with me?”

It’s the most straightforward proposal she’s seen in the days since prom proposals starting popping up all around the high school. He doesn’t say anything else or give her anything, just looks at her with his brown eyes wide, nervousness written over his face, and she smiles.

“Like, on a date?” she asks, just for clarification.

Troy nods slowly, his gaze never leaving hers. He looks a little like he’s forgotten how to breathe.

“Of course I’ll go with you,” Emma says, laughing. “Is that why you’ve been so nervous?”

Troy hesitates. “I don’t get nervous,” he says, but the words don’t have a lot of weight when he’s smiling at her like that. Emma smiles back, thinking that even after the end of everything they’ve been through together, they’re going to be all right.


	4. lavender

The night after Robo Knight dies, Emma finds Troy alone in the Command Center, all the lights dimmed, his head bowed over the control panels. Gosei has gone dark for the night, and Tensou is nowhere to be found; the only presence left in the room is Troy, and now her, as she steps in.

“I’m fine, Emma,” he says, though he doesn’t even look up at her. “You should go home.”

“Um, I think _you_ should go home,” she says. “But I know you won’t.”

Troy sighs, fiddling with some of the controls. The soft lights turn pink for an instant, then blue, then back to gold. “I don’t need to talk,” he says stubbornly.

“Of course not,” Emma says, rolling her eyes. _Boys._ “I brought you something.”

Troy finally turns to regard her, a frown on his face. “You didn’t need to – ”

He stops as she holds up the red mug she’s been holding and offers it to him. Uncertainly, he accepts his, hands sliding across hers as he takes the mug out of her grasp and looks down to smell it.

“It’s tea,” she tells him. “Lavender tea. My mom made it from an old family recipe. It helps with relaxation and insomnia.”

Troy takes a cautious sip. “I don’t think tea is going to help much,” he murmurs, but he drinks more, anyway. “It’s good, though. Thank you, Emma.”

Emma smiles gently, moving around him to sit down in front of one of the panels. “It’s not about the tea, Troy,” she tells him, turning the stool around to look up at him. “It’s about sharing it with people who love you.”

He looks down, away from her gaze. “I appreciate it, but I just – I don’t think you can help. I’m sorry.”

She sighs, leaning back and watching the flames in the wall lamps flicker. “Do you never get tired of being such a loner?” she demands. “You have _friends_ now, Troy. I don’t know how things were like at your old high school, but here, friends stick together. We don’t let you run off to brood all by yourself.”

Troy blinks at her, bemused. “I’m not _brooding_ – ”

“Yes, you are,” Emma insists, crossing her arms. “I know you’re upset about Robo Knight but _we all are_. He wouldn’t want you to be all alone in this time. He would want you to take comfort in your friends.”

He goes still, running his fingers over her mug and peering down into the depths of the lavender tea. “Emma, I really do appreciate it, but – ”

“No buts,” she says firmly, pointing at the stool next to her. “Sit with me. You don’t have to talk, but it’s not good for you to be alone right now.” Her voice falls quieter as she adds, “It’s not good for any of us.”

Troy sends her a questioning look but follows her instructions, sitting down and taking another gulp of tea. “Where are the others, then?”

Emma sighs. “Gia is taking care of Orion, he was hurt pretty badly,” she says. “I know Jake and Noah usually have sleepovers when things get bad. I was helping Gia and Orion but – I wanted to come find you. You shouldn’t have to be alone anymore. Not with all of us here.”

Troy looks down at his tea, and she swears she sees a hint of a smile on his face. “Thanks, Emma,” he murmurs.

It’s the last words either of them say that day, both of them just sitting there in the quiet lights of the Command Center, mourning their fallen friend in each other’s company for the rest of the night.


	5. citrus

Gia’s engagement party is a celebration for the ages, taking place in the beautiful gardens of Gia’s childhood home, filled with all her friends, family, and delicious food. Everyone is laughing and dancing, catching up with old friends, stuffing themselves full of cake, taking trips down memory lanes.

Troy sits at the gazebo, abandoned by the other partygoers in favor of dancing, and watches the festivities with a reminiscing smile on his face. It’s been years since all six members of his team have been together like this, and he’s missed it more than he can say. The sun begins to set over Jake and Orion having a dance-off at the center of the party.

“Enjoying yourself?”

He looks up to find Emma at the steps to the gazebo, a smile on her face as she offers him a plate of cake. She looks beautiful, as she always does, but time has been good to her. She’s cut her hair to her shoulders, but she’s still wearing pink. He’s not surprised, of course – his shirt is red, and the others haven’t abandoned their colors either. Pink always suited her.

“Hey, Emma,” he greets, accepting the plate as she sits down next to him. “How have you been? I kinda lost you in the party there for a while.”

“More like you said hi then wandered off to brood,” Emma giggles, taking the extra fork on the plate and grabbing a bite for herself as he tries the cake. It’s delicious, a citrus cake with lemon whipped cream frosting. “What have you been up to lately?”

“Oh, nothing much,” Troy says, grinning as he watches her eat the slice of cake. “Going for my Masters, and then…well, I’ve been talking to Jason, and he says there’s a spot open as a teacher at his dojo in Angel Grove,” he confides in a low voice.

Emma’s eyes widen. “Troy, that’s _amazing_!” she gushes, pointing her fork at him. “The Red Dragon Dojo?”

“That’s the one,” he confirms, smiling at the thought. “What about you? How’s that photography internship going?”

“Going, going, gone – it turned into a job offer in New York,” Emma tells him, beaming. “As soon as I graduate, I’m moving to the big city.”

“That’s great!” he says, ignoring the pang in his chest that she won’t be staying in California. “Are you excited?”

“Beyond,” she laughs, settling back in her seat and watching the party beyond them. “But I’m sure gonna miss this place. And all of you, of course, I mean, I’ll come visit but – it’s going to be a lot harder now that we’re not all in the same state.”

“Well, you’ll have to come back to see your inevitable future godchildren,” Troy teases, nodding to where Gia has been swept up in an elaborate waltz by her fiancé. “Plus, Noah’s been getting pretty serious with his girlfriend, so I’m sure we’ll find reasons for you to visit home.”

Emma smiles at him. “And what about you?” she asks. “Anyone special in your life? Should we start planning?”

Troy chuckles, finishing off the last bites of the cake. “No, you don’t have to worry about me. I’m good for a while.”

Emma raises an eyebrow but doesn’t press the subject. “Gia got lucky,” she muses, watching everyone laugh over Jake’s dance moves. “She fell in love young and found her happily ever after without even trying.”

“Everyone has different paths to love,” Troy points out, slinging an arm around the back of their bench. “We’ll all get there, someday.”

Emma smiles wistfully, turning her head to look at him. “We should make one of those pacts!” she says. “If we’re still single in ten years, let’s get married.”

His heart skips a beat. “Sounds good to me,” he says, and she laughs and settles her head on his shoulders as they watch night fall over their friends and the Power Rangers family.


	6. splash

It's Jake's idea to take a day off at the beach, under the guise of teaching Orion about the wonders of the ocean. Emma's at least fifty percent sure it has something to do with seeing Gia in a bikini, but it's not like she can really complain, given the state of the boys on their team.

Besides, the beach is always fun, even if  _some_  people refuse to actually get in the ocean.

"I'm just not in the mood," Troy insists whenever one of them tries. Eventually they all give up and wander out to sea themselves, but Emma abandons their splashing fight to head back to their beach towels, where Troy is busy reading a book.

"You're not scared of the ocean, are you?" she asks, unceremoniously dropping down to sit besides him. He jumps a little, then turns to look at her in bemusement.

"No, I just – I haven't had a lot of good experiences with it," he tells her, bookmarking his page and setting it aside.

"We've all had scary experiences," Emma points out, nudging his arm. "Doesn't it look like fun though? You already have a bathing suit and everything. Plus, we're all here."

"I know, but I – I'd rather stay here," Troy says, and Emma sighs, but she knows it's better not to push him. "You should go have fun, though. I think Orion's got the hang of it."

Orion has, indeed, gotten the hang of splashing around wildly in the water. Emma smiles fondly at her team, but shakes her head, looking back at Troy.

"What book are you reading?" she asks instead. "Is it really more interesting than us?"

Troy chuckles, setting one hand over his closed book. "No, it's nothing," he says, which is curiously evasive for him.

Emma raises an eyebrow. "Doesn't look like nothing," she teases, and then before Troy can react, she jumps over and grabs the book from his side, ending up half on top of him in the process.

" _Emma_!" he says, but she's determined, and there's not much he can do until she pulls back, waving the book triumphantly in his face.

"I didn't know you liked  _sci-fi_ ," she says, holding the book up into the air as she surveys it, well out of his reach as he lies there, trapped by her body. "Does Noah know about this? He's all about that post-apocalyptic, dystopian – "

"Those are two different things," Troy grumbles, and then, when she's not paying attention, his hands find her waist and he manages to flip her off him. "Besides, Noah prefers space operas."

Emma grins at him even as he steals the book back. "Who knew Troy Burrows was secretly a sci-fi geek?"

"Shut up," he groans, laughing. "We're  _superheroes_. We wear magical spandex. We're all sci-fi geeks.  _Literally_."

She tosses him an amused look and settles down on the towel, stretching out beside him. The sun is blinding as she looks up, but the wind is strong, and her friends are laughing out at sea. She's pretty sure she caught a hint of a smile on Troy's face, too, which means even he's enjoying the beach.

"So, do you dress up to go to midnight premieres of movies or – "

"I'm going in the damn ocean," Troy interrupts, and Emma giggles as she watches him rise and walk towards the beach, where Jake is pretty badly losing a splashing war.

It's not a bad view, she thinks, and reaches over to pick up his book so she can check out what exactly it's about.


	7. vanilla

It's the little things he notices most – the way she cups the lens of her camera the exact same way when she takes photos, her wistful smile that always appears on her face when she watches Jake and Gia, how she bites her pen when she's deep in thought over a homework problem, the sweet, floral scent of her shampoo as she passes him by.

When they graduate, it's the little things that stick in the spokes of his memory. She goes off to New York, the rest of their team scattered around the country and Orion back to his home planet, and him alone in California, remembering the way her laugh sounds, bubbly and warm, when she was around all of them, and the quieter sounds of her giggles when it was just the two of them.

He finds himself with an ache in his heart after their team separates, spending his days training and studying as college goes on. He misses a lot about them – Jake's humor, Noah's resolve, Gia's steadfastness, Orion's courage, and most of all, Emma's heart. What he misses most is who he was when he was with them – strong, steady, a leader, one of a team. These days, the team is lost in strings of emails, video chats, and phone calls that always have to end.

The first summer after high school is the sweetest; everyone comes home filled with stories and excitement, making movie dates and planning sleepovers to catch up. He feels himself falling in love all over again, every time she smiles at him, just as if they were back in high school and still saving the world.

But after that, things get harder. The years get longer, the visits get shorter, life goes on. He ends up competing professionally in martial arts tournaments that take him away from California, to other states and eventaully other countries. She's a rising photographer in New York; the rest of their team is busy with their lives. High school seems further and further away.

It's at their five year high school reunion that something shifts for the first time since they won the war and saved the world. Everything around him is different – Jake is engaged to a girl who isn't Gia; Noah has several awards and a degree in a field he can't pronounce; Gia is building her own business empire, and Emma – Emma is still the girl he fell in love with all those years ago. And yet, she's changed too – she's older, calmer, more mature, but still Emma.

He hugs her at the reunion surrounded by the laughter of his old friends. Her shampoo smells like vanilla now instead of flowers, but she still fits just as nicely into his arms as she always has. He wonders, looking at her, how much he's changed. Who she sees when she looks at him. It's hard to get a moment of peace during reunions, with everyone jumping to catch up with everyone else, and the sun is setting by the time he manages to find her alone.

She smiles at him, and it's like coming home.

He's had other girlfriends in college, of course, and he's sure she's dated, too. Life goes on whether you want it to or not. But there, with her at his side, watching the sun sink over the horizon of Harwood County, it feels like a second chance to do what he should have done years ago, summers before, so many times over.

He kisses her for the first time that day, and he marries her two years later on the exact same date.


	8. summer

The summer after graduating high school is awash with beach days and road trips and ice cream dates, just the six of them, laughing and joking and trying not to notice the advent of college edging dangerously near. It’s the best summer of Emma’s life, but she knows nothing lasts forever.

A few nights before the first of their group heads off to college – Noah, to an Ivy League, of course – she finds Troy on the island where their empty Command Center rests, watching the sun set in shimmering shades of red and pink and gold. She’d teleported there on a whim, filled with a longing to see their old home away from home before she left California, but she hadn’t expected him to have had the same idea.

“Hey, Emma,” he says when he notices her landing on the sand nearby him. His smile is soft and a little sad as she comes closer to sit by him. “What brings you here?”

“Uh, couldn’t sleep,” she says, making him laugh lightly. They’d spent more than a few long and restless nights here during their tenure as rangers, both of them being drawn to the peace and tranquility of the island when insomnia struck. “I just wanted to see it one last time. You?”

Troy leans back on his palms, tilting his head. “I needed something to remember this by,” he admits, his voice low and husky as the sky grows darker and bluer and deeper. “Us and Gosei and Tensou. Everything we did here. Just one last memory.”

Emma smiles at him, her shoulder brushing his as she settles in on the sand. “It’s beautiful,” she murmurs, watching the stars start to twinkle in the night. “I wonder how Gosei and Tensou are doing.”

He looks at her, his eyes warm and dark in the fading light. “How are you doing, Emma?” he asks her, ever the leader. She ducks her head; his gaze has a bad habit of making her heart somersault in her chest.

“I’m fine,” she lies, and he shifts his arm so she can drop her head down onto his shoulder. He’s far more comfortable than he has any right to be. “I miss Noah already. I miss all of you already.”

“We miss you, too,” Troy teases, and she giggles before she can stop herself. “Hey, you laughed,” he says, sounding both impressed and amused. “You never laugh at my jokes.”

Emma jabs a finger into his side, making him grin. “That’s because you never make any, weirdo,” she accuses, feeling his arm come up around her shoulders, tucking her into his side as his fingers run through her hair, unerringly gentle and never catching on any tangles. The sensation sends butterflies bubbling up inside her.

“I do, too,” he protests, though the words are kind of lost in her hair. She feels the ghost of a sigh on a temple, halfway to a kiss. “Emma,” he says after a moment of comfortable silence, “I’m really going to miss you.”

She looks up at him, but he’s staring out at the sea. “I’m going to miss you, too,” she says, a little taken aback by the raw sincerity of his voice. Troy was never much for emotions – or jokes, or trying to cheer people up.

When he finally looks at her, she feels something shift in the air. His gaze is soft and soulful and makes her want to kiss him more than she ever has before. But he only smiles at her, securing his arm around her as she curls deeper into his side.

The sun disappears over the horizon and the island is bathed in starlight, just like all those lonely nights with just the two of them and the sea and the stars.


	9. grapefruit

“So,” Jake says casually in the middle of Emma’s birthday party, spooning a bite of cake into his mouth. “when are you gonna ask her out?”

Troy chokes on his strawberry lemonade. “Wha – ask who out?” he demands, though he has a pretty good idea already. His stomach fills with butterflies as Jake smirks and nods his head at Emma, who’s standing in the center of the gazebo giggling with Gia as the rest of their friends mill about the garden. “We’re not – I’m not – ”

Jake snorts. “Come on, man. You’re, like, head over heels. You even drank that entire grapefruit smoothie she made for us yesterday, and you and I both know it was terrible.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Troy says defensively, feeling his cheeks warm. “Look, Emma and I are just friends – ”

“Emma and _I_ are just friends,” Jake interrupts firmly. “Emma and _you_ – dude, I was there for the mistletoe kiss last Christmas. Remember that? _Sparks_.”

“Shut up,” Troy mumbles, flushing red. “It’s not a big deal. I don’t – I don’t think about her that way.”

This excuse garners him only silence and an incredulous look from Jake as the absurdity of the lie settles over them both. Emma chooses that moment to look up and flash him – _them_ , he reminds himself quickly, the two of _them_ – a smile, smoothing down her pink dress. The wind catches her brown hair and the hem of her dress, fluttering around her, making his heart jump over two beats at once.

“Okay,” he says slowly. “Fine. Maybe I do. How do you know she feels the same way?”

Jake shrugs. “I don’t. But I think you do.”

With a meaningful nod, he steals Troy’s forgotten glass of strawberry lemonade and wanders away to talk with Noah and Orion about spaceships or something. Troy stands there, trying not to stare too much at Emma as he runs Jake’s words over in his mind, until suddenly, she’s right in front of him, Gia nowhere to be found.

“Enjoying the party?” she asks with a warm smile, replacing his stolen glass with a fresh one of her own. “Thought you could use a drink.”

Troy coughs, smiling back. “Thanks,” he says quietly. “It’s a great party. I hope you’re having a good birthday.”

Emma rolls her eyes and jabs a finger at his shoulder, making him jump. “Why are you so damn _stoic_ all the time?” she asks, halfway between fondly amused and exasperated. “It’s a _party_. Lighten _up_.”

“I’m having fun!” he insists futilely, grinning as she twines her fingers through his and drags him over to where Jake has talked Orion and Noah into a quick, lighthearted spar. “See? Fun.”

He flashes his best, most ridiculous smile at her and she breaks down in giggles. “Hey, Emma,” he asks, voice lowering, when she calms down. “What are you doing next Friday?”

She shoots him a quick glance, then looks back at the other three boys attempting wrestling moves. “Nothing,” she says, lifting a hand to brush her hair back from her face. Troy catches her wrist as she does, waiting for her to turn around to face him when she realizes he isn’t letting go.

“Do you want to…um, like, go to the movies or something?” he asks quietly, tracing circles onto her wrist as he watches a smile bloom across her face.

“On a date?” she asks, raising an eyebrow.

Troy grins. “On a date,” he confirms, and she laughs and nods, and he’s pretty sure Jake just lost the sparring match for trying to cheer him on.


	10. mint

He smells fresh, for some reason. Or, fresher than usual. Like mint and lemon, clean and crisp.

“Are you wearing cologne?” Gia asks incredulously as Troy sits down at their usual booth. “Or…aftershave? Whichever one. I can’t tell the difference.”

He coughs, tugging at his shirt collar – it’s a button-down, which is unusal on its own. “I have a date in an hour,” he admits with a sheepish grin. Gia’s eyes widen, her gaze darting instinctively to Emma.

Her heart feels like a stone. “With who?” she asks, trying to keep her voice light.

Troy looks sideways at her. “Um, that girl in our chemistry class? Lydia?”

_Lydia_ – tall, pretty, with blonde curls and high heels, always with a pink shimmer lipgloss smile for everyone. Especially for Troy. Emma sighs and sinks back against her seat as Noah steers the conversation away Troy’s date, maybe out of sympathy.

When Troy leaves to meet Lydia at the front of the store, Gia, Noah, and Jake immediately round on her with concerned looks, which she appreciates, even if she doesn’t really want to talk about it.

“I don’t like her,” Jake proclaims defiantly, watching Lydia giggle and take Troy’s hand to lead him to the countertop where Ernie is making fro-yos.. Emma distinctly remembers him commenting on how hot Lydia was just a few weeks ago, but she doesn’t mention it. “There’s no way Troy really likes her!”

“Guys,” Emma laughs, straightening up. “She’s perfectly nice. She helped me with math homework last year when she didn’t have to. You don’t have to hate her for me.”

“But we will anyway,” Gia says seriously, reaching out to take her hand, and Emma smiles at her.

“Besides,” Noah adds, craning his neck to better look at Troy and Lydia, now sitting on the stools and talking while they wait for their order. “I don’t think this date is gonna end well.”

“Why?” Jake asks curiously.

“Because,” Noah says with a smile, drawing back down to look at the rest of them, “he keeps looking over here.”

He inclines his head towards Emma, who jumps at the realization of his statement and turns slowly to find Troy’s gaze indeed darting over to their table – to _her_ – every few minutes.

Slowly, her heart begins to float again.

The date does end, not entirely badly, but on friendly terms, and she’s left alone at the table doing homework while her friends have taken off in the past half-hour, leaving her the only one there for when Troy returns, sans Lydia, to their booth.

“How was your date?” she asks as he slides in opposite her.

“Good,” Troy says, hesitating before he admits, “I don’t think there’ll be a second one though.”

Her heart jumps. “Why not?” she asks casually.

He smiles lopsidedly at her. “I don’t think she’s the one I wanna be with.”

Emma bites her lip. “Then who is?”

Troy doesn’t answer for a long moment, just sitting there looking at her, his eyes dancing. Finally, he says, “Can you help me with my homework?” and she smiles. He pulls out his books, and maybe it’s not a date, but they spend the rest of the day there, so it’s close enough.


	11. moon

The day after their last battle, a full moon rises into the night sky, brilliant and beautiful in its silvery-white glow. Troy stays late helping a clean-up crew in the park, the rest of the team scattered around town during the same, and ends up watching the moon’s ascent into the night sky well past the hours of midnight.

Emma finds him around 12:30, when most of the rest of the volunteers have gone home to sleep. “How’re things here?” she asks, bumping his shoulder with hers in greeting as she joins him in setting park benches upright again.

“Better,” he says, grinning at her as he wipes his hands over his face. He’s been sweaty all day, but now that Emma’s here, it seems to matter more. His stomach somersaults as he tries not to think of why. _Orion, idiot, think of Orion, think of how much she likes him…_ “How’re things at the beach?”

“Oh, great, the tides took care of most of the debris for us,” Emma giggles, flopping down on the last park bench of the row he’d been fixing once they got it on its feet again. Troy joins her after a moment of making sure it was secure and wouldn’t fall apart on them. “I ended up helping out at the kindergarten after a while, you know, the kids were pretty scared being holed up in there for the battle. But they’re okay now. I sung them a song.”

“I’m sure that cheered them right up,” he says with a smile. His heart turns all fluttery when she returns it. “And how are you doing?”

Her voice goes softer to match his. “Better,” she says, echoing his response from earlier. “A lot better, now that we’re all here, and alive, and safe – god, Troy, I was so worried about you – when you and Orion went on that ship…”

“We made it back,” he reminds her, nudging his arm against hers. “Have you talked to Orion today? I know he went to help with the high school, but I haven’t seen him in person since the battle.”

A fond smile flits across her face. “Yeah, I saw him a few hours ago. He’s good, there’s a lot of work to be done, though. I think I’ll pop over there tomorrow to help, me and Gia, if she’s done with her neighborhood…” Her words fade away, and when he looks up to ask why, he finds her surveying him in concern.

“Troy,” she says gently, her hand landing on his leg, soft and soothing. “Are you okay?”

He shrugs one shoulder helplessly. “Yes and no,” he says, unsure of what other truthful answer he could possibly give. “It just feels weird, being done. It feels like – I don’t know, like all of us, we’re just – just over. Everything we’ve been through – ”

“Hey,” Emma says, her voice rising in firmness. “Don’t talk like that. We’ve been through too much for you to start doubting our friendship now. We’ll _always_ be best friends, all six of us.”

Troy looks sideways at her, his heart jumping into his throat. “Just friends?” he asks, mingled hope and dread in his voice. Hope, that his first reckless impulse might prove to be a good decision; dread that it wouldn’t. His pulse rate picks up.

“Just – ” Emma cuts herself off in confusion, frowning at him. “What do you mean – ”

He wants to kiss her. He’s never wanted anything so badly, sitting out here in the empty park with just her. _But Orion – she likes_ Orion _and you’re not going to be a dick about it, Troy Burrows._ “I just meant – are you and Orion – ” _But it doesn’t hurt to get confirmation,_ he told himself. _She only kissed him once, and not even on the lips…_

“Oh!” Emma flushes the color of her dress. “No, no, we’re – I mean I don’t think we are. We’re just friends, I kind of like someone el– why are you asking?” Her voice turns suspicious, her gaze narrowing in on him.

“Curious,” he says, a half-grin tilting his lips. “Just wanted to make sure before I – ”

He cuts himself, and whatever her next words were going to be, off quite thoroughly. Emma melts into the kiss before he can second-guess himself, letting him pull her into his arms and opening her mouth to deepen the kiss. She tastes like pink peach lip gloss and strawberry soda, and he thinks there’s nothing better than being with her under the moonlight tonight.


	12. watermelon

There’s still a lot she doesn’t know about Troy Burrows. Despite being their leader and hanging out with them after school, Troy is not exactly forthcoming with personal details. The most she knows is that he likes to work out alone in the forest.

So, Emma does what photographers do best. She starts noticing. It takes a while, because most of her time with Troy is spent either in battle, in class, or at Ernie’s with the others where he sits quietly and sometimes smiles at a joke.

But she’s good at noticing. First: he likes raspberry smoothies. She’s not sure if it’s a color-coding thing, but they are significantly redder than her own favorite strawberry smoothies.

Second: he _does_ like strawberry fro-yo, which is a plus. None of her other friends have such good taste (it’s definitely a color-coding thing, because Jake likes mint chocolate chip and Noah like blueberry and Gia likes mango. All of which Emma finds gross. Strawberry is definitely the best.)

Third: he looks really good shirtless, which, of course, she knew already. But it’s one thing to see him shirtless with the whole team around, whether during training or at the beach or at the pool. It’s another when it’s just the two of them in the woods and she’s watching him kick water bottles around like he has a grudge against them.

“What _do_ you have against water bottles?” she asks from where she’s leaning against a tree, sipping on watermelon soda (the closest he had to strawberry today). Troy straightens up and looks at her curiously, water bottles scattered morosely around his feet.

“Nothing,” he says, confused. “They’re good for practice. You would know if you ever tried it.”

Emma raises her eyebrows. “Unlike you, I have no reason to decimate a small army of water bottles,” she says primly, and is rewarded by a snort of laughter as he kicks water bottles out of his way so he can join her under the shade of her tree.

“Can I have some?” he asks instead of reply and she passes him her watermelon soda can. “So, why _do_ you come out here to help me train, if not to enjoy watching me decimate my army of water bottles, Emma?”

His voice has a definite note of teasing in it, and Emma giggles despite herself. “Maybe I enjoy the view,” she suggests.

She’s flirting. She knows it and he knows it, and she knows he knows it. The problem is, even with all that time spent observing Troy Burrows, it’s still hard to know what he’s thinking, or what he’s feeling, or, god help her, what he’s going to do.

Fourth: he also looks really cute when he’s blushing.

“That doesn’t seem fair,” he finally says, eyeing her thoughtfully over the soda can. “You’re benefitting from the innocent water bottles getting beaten up?”

Emma laughs, crossing her arms as she watches him finish off the watermelon soda. “You have a point. How can I possibly make it up to your poor water bottles?”

Whatever she expects him to do, it’s not to lean down to the cooler, grab a fresh water bottle, open it up, and pour it unceremoniously over her head, completely soaking her hair and face and clothes. Her jaw drops as she stares at him, then down at her now-transparent light pink dress, sticking to her skin.

“There,” Troy says, infuriatingly amused, shooting her a grin that verges on the wrong side of mischievous. “The water bottles get their revenge, and now we both have great views.”

Emma gapes at him, stunned at his ability to – well, to flirt. He looks her up and down one more time, making her cheeks flush, then grins at her again and pushes himself off the tree to return to his workout.

Emma stands very still under the shade of the maple tree and _plots_.

(Fifth: he’s also a really good kisser.)


	13. peach

When he wakes up, the bed smells like her. Memories of last night are hazy, but her peaches-and-cream perfume is the one thing that is absolutely concrete in his mind. If he could have doubted her presence, he would have, but he can’t.

He rolls over, but there’s nobody on the other side.

Outside his bedroom window, morning mist gathers in faint silvers and greys over the horizon. Troy struggles to a sitting position, his head pounding with a hangover, and reaches for his clothes. There’s no note on the bedside table to make this easier, and he hadn’t really expected there to be.

A note would imply that it had happened, and he knows that when he leaves his bedroom and changes the sheets – it won’t have happened. Nothing will have happened. And nobody will know except the two of them.

She did leave a water bottle on his end table. He grabs it after putting on his pants – the only article of clothing he’s been able to locate from his floor – and gulps it down. It helps with the hangover, though not by much.

He appreciates the thought though. For a split second, his hand finds his cell phone and hovers over her name on speed dial. _Emma_. There’s a pink heart next to it. She’d put her number in herself, years ago, when they were in high school and fighting a war and not paying attention to their hearts.

He’s still not paying attention to his heart. He slides over her name and hits _Jake_ instead.

“Hey, man, what’s up?”

Troy inhales. Exhales. Says, “Not much, I just – how are things?”

Even on the other side of the country, he can see Jake’s confusion on his face. “Things? Things are great, dude. What’s wrong with you? It’s, like, ten in the morning.”

“I had a weird night,” he confesses, though weird is perhaps not the best adjective. More like, _incredible_ or _amazing_ or _euphoric_. Or _the worst decision of my life_ night. “Just wanted to check in. Sorry, I’ll let you go now – ”

“Troy,” Jake says slowly. “Do you want to talk to Emma?”

His heart jumps. “Wait, I – is she there? With you?”

“I’m at her place. She’s in the bathroom, but if you hold on a second – ”

“No,” Troy says quickly, remembering who he is and where he is and what had happened. “No, it’s okay. I don’t – it’s nothing. It’s nothing, don’t bother her.”

There’s a pause at the other end. Troy itches to fill it with a burning question like, _Why are you at her place?_ or _Did she tell you what happened?_ or _Does she look happy?_ but he doesn’t.

Then Jake says, “Dude. Fix it.”

And before Troy can say anything or protest or even get his fingers to do something rational like end the call, there’s shuffling, and the phone being passed, and then Emma’s breathing on the other side.

“Hello?” she asks quietly, uncertainly. “Troy?”

“ _Emma_ ,” he murmurs, and the scent of her peach perfume is suddenly too strong to resist. “Hi.”

She laughs, just a little. “Hi.”

It’s not much, but it’s a start.


	14. mocha

Emma has gotten the same drink at their local coffee shop almost her entire life, certainly since she started drinking coffee. Gia, Jake, and Noah have long since memorized her order: a white chocolate mocha with extra whipped cream and caramel on top, please and thank you.

At this point, the store employees only need to see her walk through before someone is whipping up her order. By sophomore year of high school, the only person in her friend group who doesn’t know her order is Troy, for obvious reasons.

She takes him with her once, when everyone else is busy – homework, soccer practice, whatever Gia does on the weekends to keep up her tough girl image (Emma knows she knits) – and it’s the middle of winter and she is absolutely craving something warm and delicious in her system.

“What do you usually get here?” she asks him as they wait in line. Troy looks around a little cautiously, surveying his mundane coffee shop surroundings, and shrugs.

“I don’t really drink coffee,” he admits. “Just water, mostly.”

“So that’s why you have all those water bottles,” she muses, and he flashes her a quick grin. Quick is all they get from him most days. He so very rarely lets down his guard, even around his friends.

It’s her turn in the line, so she goes and pays for her usual order while Troy goes to wait on the other side of the counter. By the time she gets her drink and they set out to leave the store, she has managed to extract exactly three more words of casual conversation out of him – “Is that good?” – and a head shake when she asked if he wanted to try it.

So, she’s doing better than normal. It’s only when they get to the entryway that they run into problems.

“You’re standing under mistletoe!” informs a girl in an employee shirt standing there with a gleeful smile on her face. Emma stares up at the offending plant in horror, then looks back at Troy, who seems…

Well, she still can’t tell. Jake has this running theory that he’s a robot without emotions, and she’s inclined to agree.

She thinks she sees a flicker of nervousness in his gaze _maybe_ when he glances at her. Shaking her head, she says, “Oh, we don’t have to, let’s just go – ”

The girl shoots her a frown, but Emma couldn’t care less. She’s pretty sure the girl is in her biology class, actually, but that matters less than getting out of here before things get any more awkward.

Then Troy leans forward and kisses her.

She’s so startled she almost drops her drink – she doesn’t, thankfully, because that would be a tragedy – but by the time her brain kicks in and reminds her to move and _kiss him back_ , he’s already pulling away. His cheeks might be a little red, but she has no idea what he’s thinking.

“Let’s go,” he says quickly and holds open the door for her. Emma stares at him for a moment, then steps through into the brisk cool winter air, still feeling more than a little dazed.

“Sorry about that,” he adds as they begin to walk down the street. “I – it was just – everyone was looking at us – ”

“Yeah, no – no problem,” she assures him. “Not a big deal.” _Yes_ a big deal, her mind screams, but she doesn’t say it. “Tradition, right?”

He half-smiles at her. “Wanna come again tomorrow?”

Emma blinks. “Really? Why?”

Troy grins genuinely at her. “The mocha was really good.”


	15. orchard

It’s not really meant to be a secret, but it kind of ends up accidentally being one, anyway. Emma has a thing for nature; his aunt has an orchard out back behind their house; and if he kisses her there for the first time and just forgets to tell anyone, well, it’s not really his fault, is it?

After a time, it becomes a habit. The orchard offers peace and tranquility from the world, a paradise of orange groves and lemon trees where the two of them can hide out from the world, their friends, and their duties. His aunt only gardens in the afternoon; her daughter uses it in the morning to finish her homework; and it belongs to the two of them by evening.

“We should,” Emma says one night between kisses when he has her backed up against her favorite apple tree, “tell the others, at some point, right?” She doesn’t look entirely certain of this conclusion even as she says it, and less certain when he takes advantage of her breathlessness to steal another kiss. “ _Troy_.”

He laughs, letting her push him back just far enough to break the kiss, still close enough to lean his forehead on hers. “Sorry. Yeah, you’re right, we should tell them. I’m surprised you haven’t told Gia yet, actually.”

She shrugs, which does him the favor of making her already-loose shirt slide further down her shoulders. “I kind of like the relationship just being us, you know? If we told them, they’d all get involved in some way or the other. And this orchard is so nice, like our secret place.”

Troy looks at her, amused. “Yeah,” he agrees, “this… and the janitor’s closet at school, and Ernie’s back room, and, oh, don’t forget the captain’s quarters on our flying ship.”

Emma flushes red, but she’s smiling as she hits him. “Shut up. Do you think Gosei knows?” The thought seems to concern her; she bites her lip in worry, which does nothing to help his rising urge to kiss her again.

“Gosei knows everything,” he says dismissively, and she relaxes enough for him to get her shirt off. “Did you have a plan for telling the others, or are we just gonna wing it tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?” she repeats, eyes widening. “I didn’t mean _tomorrow_ …”

Troy sighs, settles his hands on her bare waist, and pulls her up away from the tree, up against his chest. “Emma,” he says softly, brushing her hair out of her face. “If you want to tell them, I’m right behind you. But we don’t _have_ to do it.”

She looks down, focusing her attention on getting his shirt unbuttoned. “I _do_ want to tell them. I just don’t know how.”

“Me neither,” he says with a laugh. “What do you think they’ll do if we just start making out in front of them?”

Emma giggles, pushing his shirt off his shoulders. “Probably start cheering,” she murmurs, sliding her hands around his neck and leaning up on her tiptoes to kiss him again. It’s been a good few moments since he kissed her, so he lets himself melt into it, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her up so she can deepen it.

At some point, they end up falling over onto the grassy ground. She’s laughing as she settles down on top of him, and he’s almost forgotten all about whatever they were talking about by the time she stops kissing him and sets to work on getting the rest of his clothes off.

“So,” he says, shifting to make it easier on her, “tomorrow, then?”

She pauses at his belt buckle and meets his gaze. “Yes,” she says slowly. “Tomorrow. We could just walk in holding hands, you know.”

Troy grins and runs his fingers up her sides, making her squeal. “I kinda preferred the making out idea,” he admits.

Emma giggles and leans back down to kiss him quickly. “Fine,” she hums against his lips. “Just make it a good one.”


	16. cider

The door shuts behind a snickering Jake with a quiet click. Emma locks it before turning her bemused smile on the sole remaining occupant of the living room. He stares at her with a grimace on his face as she takes in the sight before her – Troy, wearing only boxers, with his whole body covered in various shades of green paint to make him look like a Christmas tree.

“Don’t laugh,” he says as soon as her mouth starts twitching. She can’t help it – they’ve added spots of colors to make it look like he has streamers, fairy lights, and ornaments, and even a plush star plopped onto his head to top it off. The paint is still drying, but they’ve thoroughly covered every part of his body except his face, which only has yellow painted stars.

“I’m not laughing,” she promises, hanging up her pink coat before stepping cautiously closer to him over the paint cans littered on the floor. He makes a face at her that says he knows very well that she _is_ laughing, but he doesn’t protest as she reaches up to inspect the stuffed star on his head. “Is this Jake’s?”

“I didn’t ask,” he says dryly. She giggles but quickly stops at the look on his face and sets the star back on his head.

“What was the bet?” she asks, crossing her arms and circling him to see if they’d really painted _everything_ – yes, they really have. She’s impressed with their dedication. His red boxer shorts, they’ve left untouched, probably for the Christmas effect.

“That Noah wouldn’t take his zord for a joyride,” Troy grumbles. “Jake said he would. I think he cheated, but whatever.”

Emma grins and grabs a paintbrush left on the table behind his back. He doesn’t turn to look – they must have some rule about not moving while being a fake Christmas tree. “You’re new in town, so it’s forgivable, but Jake knows exactly how to get Noah to do things.” She dips the paintbrush in an almost-full can of pink paint and adds brightly, “For future reference.”

“I’ve been here for a year,” he mutters, then jumps when she slides the paintbrush down his back. “ _Hey_!”

“Relax,” she laughs, swirling the paintbrush around to make designs in the forest of green on his bare back. “I just thought you needed some pink accents. Are you ticklish?”

She can practically see him scowl, even though he’s not facing her. “ _No_ ,” he says, but he squirms when she goes too low on his back. “Maybe. A little. _What_ are you drawing?”

“Nothing,” she says innocently, painting hearts on his back above the top of his boxers, where he seems to be most ticklish, judging from his reactions. “Where did they run off to?”

“Coffee shop run,” he says, his back muscles shifting as she works her way up to the top of his body. “Hot chocolate, apple cider, I think. _Emma_.”

She looks up from drawing pink curlicues on his shoulder. “Yes?”

“Can you please come around to where I can see you?” he asks slowly.

Emma grins and slides the paintbrush up his neck, making him shiver. “Are you not allowed to move?”

“Trees don’t move,” Troy says through gritted teeth. “ _Please stop painting me._ ”

Laughing, she sets the paintbrush down in a cup of water and moves around to his front. “I think you make an excellent Christmas tree,” she tells him cheerfully, reaching up to brush his hair out of his eyes. He was usually so intimidatingly put-together, it’s refreshing to see him like this, all messy and ridiculous and adorably annoyed.

“You’re not coming closer,” he points out, eyeing her white dress. Emma takes another step back instinctively.

“This dress is brand new, you are _not_ getting paint on it,” she warns, though her voice cracks into a smile.

“Hm,” Troy says contemplatingly, then flashes her a grin that sends heat straight through her body, “why don’t you take it off, then?”


	17. raspberry

For their first Thanksgiving home from college, all six of them gather at Gia’s house for a party. Orion comes back from rebuilding Andresia, the rest of them from across the country, and everyone brings something for the table. Troy asks his aunt to make them a green bean casserole and shows up last, mostly because of traffic.

“Thought you weren’t going to make it,” Emma laughs when she opens the door to hug him. She’s just as small and as warm in his arms as he remembers. “Come on, everyone’s setting up the table. We’re just getting ready to eat.”

“I brought casserole,” he says, offering the dish up as she leads him into the giant dining hall – Gia’s parents spared no expense with the house before they bought it, subsequently divorced, and more or less left her alone in it afterwards. Jake and Noah and Orion cheer when he comes in, and he settles into a seat between Emma and Noah with a smile.

He’s missed his friends more than he realized.

“Turkey first, then everything else,” Gia instructs, carefully cutting everyone portions of the turkey. “And Emma’s raspberry tart last, of course.” She shoots her a smile. “Just like old times.”

Troy glances at Emma to his side. “Have you guys done this before?” he asks, because they all used to spend Christmas day together in high school, but Thanksgiving was usually reserved for their families.

Emma serves herself some of Noah’s mashed potatoes and offers him the bowl. “After my mom died… well, my dad didn’t really feel like celebrating, and Gia’s parents were always busy, or divorcing, or something. And Noah’s family has never really celebrated Thanksgiving, since he moved here from Canada, so we all got together and had ourselves a party every year.”

“Until I got there,” Jake complains good-naturedly. Noah coughs, and he makes a face at him.

“That’s just because we got distracted saving the world,” Gia points out, sending Troy’s casserole dish spinning across the table to the boys. “Orion, how are you enjoying your first Thanksgiving?”

Orion grins at her over a mouthful of turkey. “I think every planet should celebrate Thanksgiving,” he says enthusiastically and everyone laughs and digs into their food.

The meal is delicious, as is the night of drinking – root beer and soda, mostly, but Gia cracks open her parent’s liquor cabinet and lets everyone who’s not driving themselves home have a glass of wine – and the video games and sparring matches out on Gia’s backyard that follows. Troy ends up leaning over the balcony railing, watching his friends play around beneath the fading sunset, laughing and dancing and joking.

Emma comes up beside him as the moon ascends into the sky, smiling when he notices her and offering him a glass of sprite, which he accepts gratefully. “How’s college?” she asks softly, joining him in looking out over the backyard.

“Great,” he says automatically, then pauses and looks at her. “How are you?”

“Great,” she echoes, sending him a quiet smile. “I miss you guys. All the time.”

“I miss you, too,” Troy says, and doesn’t add an _all_ or _guys_ after the _you_. He knows she won’t miss that. “Emma – ” His breath escapes in a sigh as he turns to look at her. “We should – we should talk… right?”

She drums her fingers on the railing. “About last summer?” she asks, and he nods, then shakes his head, then inhales, then exhales. Frustrated that he can’t find the words, his hand reaches out for hers almost of its own accord. She doesn’t stop it.

“About us,” he says slowly. “About – about – ”

Emma cuts him off by kissing him. He stops, frozen for a moment, and then the taste of raspberry tart and wine and peach lipgloss overwhelms him until all he can think about is kissing her back. And he does, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. When she breaks the kiss, he can still feel her smile against his lips. He doesn’t think he’s ever had a better Thanksgiving.


	18. honey

The summer day is hot and sticky at one hundred degrees, melting over her skin like butter in the sun, and the only thing that makes it even slightly bearable is taking her clothes off as quickly as she can in the relative comfort of Troy’s air-conditioned bedroom.

“Are you sure?” he asks, his voice low and husky over the skin of her throat as he drags his lips down her neck. His mouth is warm, but not in a way that adds to the heat, in a way that makes her shiver, and if he doesn’t get her shirt off soon, she’s going to _melt_. “We don’t have to – ”

“Shut up,” she murmurs, arching her back as he slips his hands up her shirt. Part of her knows she’s going to regret this in a few hours when he has to leave for work and she has to go home and, god, she’s going to have to tell Gia, and that’s going to be fun for everyone involved _except_ her – but right now, it feels too good to stop. “I came over here, remember?”

His lips tilt in an amused smile at the hollow between her neck and her shoulder. “I thought that was because I have a working air conditioner.”

“It was,” she admits, pushing him gently back so he’s straight against the headboard of his bed instead of bent over her and she can see the way his eyes are blown wide with desire. Heat pools inside her, a different kind from the sweaty, sticky-like-honey mess just outside his window. She leans down to kiss him and says, “But this is better.”

Troy chuckles, running his hands higher up her body beneath her shirt. She’s half-tempted to just take it off herself and make it easier on him, but he seems to be enjoying taking his time. Instead, she shifts her body around on his lap, gratified when she can immediately feel his reaction.

“Emma,” he whispers, looking back up at her like she’s an oasis in the desert. His gaze is hot and intense and fills her stomach with butterflies, so she cups his face and pulls him back into a kiss to forget about the way he can make her feel like she’s back in elementary school with her first crush on a boy with just one look. “ _Emma_.”

This time, her name escapes in a gasp as she runs her fingers down his chest, over his stomach, up under the hem of his shirt. Before she can debate it for too long, she pulls his shirt up and over his head, tossing it aside onto his bedroom floor. He gets the hint this time, making short work of her own shirt, and the rush of cool air over her bare skin is instantly satisfying. She lets him run his fingers reverently over her stomach before taking her bra off so she’s left in only shorts.

“Troy,” she says softly when his hands stop moving up and down her body, “are you – ” She pauses, unsure of what to ask him. The way he’s staring at her makes her stomach flip upside down and over; she hadn’t intended to render him speechless.

“Am I what?” he finally asks, breaking the silence to grin up at her, boyishly handsome again in the blink of an eye. Emma feels herself relax almost instantly, a laugh escaping her as he pushes gently so they tumble down onto his bed with him balancing his body on top of hers.

“Are you going to kiss me or what?” she teases, and he wastes no time in answering her, ducking his head down to kiss her until she sees stars. The heat of the day outside feels like a distant memory, replaced by the chill of his bedroom and the warmth of his body over hers.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmurs in the aftermath, lying tangled in the sheets with her. He doesn’t say _I love you_ , but she didn’t really expect him to. She smiles softly and kisses him slowly, and thinks that maybe this time, she won’t regret it, not even a little bit.


	19. caramel

“What kind of respectable coffee shop runs out of  _caramel_ ?”

Troy stops in his kata practice to look over his shoulder at his new companion. Emma is practically bubbling over with righteous anger as she marches up to him, pretty as a picture in her bright pink dress and twice as annoyed. In her hands is her usual coffee order – white chocolate mocha with extra whipped cream and caramel on top, as he’s long since memorized.

She shoves it under his nose to demonstrate. “They had _no_ caramel syrup! What am I supposed to do with this?”

Troy moves her hand aside carefully, smiling fondly at her. “Drink it?” he suggests, and she rolls her eyes. “It’s just a topping, Emma.”

“ _You’re_ just a topping,” she mutters, eyeing his shirtless body like she wouldn’t mind dumping her drink over it.

“ _You’ve_ been spending too much time with Jake,” he says calmly, taking the mocha and setting it down next to his shirt and bag before she can carry through with that implicit idea. “I have caramel syrup at home, if you want to save it for then.”

Emma’s face brightens. “Really?” she asks, trailing her now-free hands up his bare chest. Troy grins and gathers her up close to him, his hands settling on her hips. “It’ll get cold by then, though,” she adds thoughtfully, chewing on her bottom lip.

“I’m sure you’ll survive,” he says sarcastically, and immediately regrets it when her response is to reach for the drink. “Hey – no – _Emma_ – !”

“But it looks so much better on you than in the cup,” she says brightly, and tips it over his chest. Troy yelps at the warm, sticky sensation of the caramel-less mocha dripping down his stomach. Emma smiles innocently at him and uses her fingers to spread the whipped cream over his chest.

“ _Emma_ ,” he growls, but he can’t help the laugh that escapes him when she dances her hands over the whipped cream, tickling him mercilessly until he grabs her hands to force her to stop, twisting her around and pressing her back to his chest.

“You’re ruining my jacket,” she complains, but she’s giggling even as he locks his arms around her waist to hold her there so she can’t leave.

“You started it,” he mutters into her ear, satisfied when she shivers at his voice. “Guess we’re stuck here now.”

“And all because the shop ran out of caramel,” she agrees, sighing dramatically. “What ever will we do to entertain ourselves?”

“I can’t think of anything,” he says dryly, surveying the open forest around them. Emma giggles, squirming her body around in a way that makes him very glad she can’t see his reaction right now, though she can probably feel it. “My car is parked nearby, you know,” he whispers, bending his head to nuzzle her neck.

She tilts her head to give him more access, a smile blooming across her face. “That’s convenient,” she notes, and he pokes her in the ribs to make her giggle some more. “Race you there?”

Troy smirks. “You’re on,” he says, and releases her to let her get a head start. She runs off, abandoning her mocha-covered denim jacket as she goes, and he saunters after her more slowly, admiring the view from behind.

“You’re gonna lose!” she calls over her shoulder as he picks up both their bags, his shirt, and her empty coffee cup on his way over to his car.

“You don’t have my keys!” he reminds her, grinning when she stops in her tracks and glares at him.

She makes him pay for that, but it’s well worth it, in his opinion.


	20. strawberry

Emma smells like strawberries. He notices this about a month after the first time he kisses her, on a lazy Sunday morning when she’s lying in his bed wearing only his sheets when he wakes up with her in his arms.

“Morning, sleeping beauty,” she smiles up at him, her eyelashes fluttering against his chest where her head is laid. The sensation feels curiously similar to butterflies dancing through his stomach. “Did you sleep well?”

Troy strokes a hand through her hair, and she sighs softly at the touch, her breath warm on his bare skin. “Amazingly,” he tells her with a grin. “How about you?”

“Mm, well, I had this weird dream,” she says, widening her eyes in a way that makes it obvious she’s setting him up for a joke. “There was this guy and he kept hitting water bottles, just over and over, and he wouldn’t stop even when – ”

He cuts her off by tickling her until she rolls over onto her side from her laughter and then climbs on top of her, pinning her down to his bed by her wrists and leaning forward till his lips hover over hers. “Are you ever going to let that go?”

“Not likely,” she says, grinning and squirming under him. “Are you going to kiss me?”

“I was considering it,” he says wryly, but she solves his mock-dilemma by tilting her head up and kissing him herself. He loses himself in the kiss almost instantly, falling off her so they can kiss without fear of accidentally crushing her. She frees her hands from his grip easily and snakes them around his neck, pulling him in so close that only the sheet separates their bodies.

“You smell like strawberries,” he tells her, his voice a quiet murmur against her lips, too comfortable to raise it any higher. She runs her fingers down his chest and smiles at him.

“It’s my shampoo,” she tells him as he wraps his arms around her and pulls her in to cuddle. “You don’t smell like anything.”

He chuckles. “Boys’ shampoos don’t tend to smell like anything, no,” he agrees. “Would you prefer if I did?”

Emma shrugs, adjusting her head so her hair is tickling his neck. Not that he minds; it still smells really good – sweet and sugary, like summer. “Your cologne is nice,” she tells him. “You wore it for our date last night, remember?”

Truthfully, he remembers what happened after the date far more clearly than the date itself. “My aunt got it for me. It’s some weird fancy combination of things like – like iced mango? And tonka bean, whatever that is, and _Spanish sage_. I don’t even know what that means.”

She giggles, leaning up to kiss his nose when he wrinkles it at her. “Well, it’s really nice. Gia said you smelled sexy.”

He stares at her in bemusement. “ _Sexy_? _Gia_ said that?”

“Don’t get any ideas,” Emma says warningly, laughing. “You know everyone on the team thinks you’re hot, right?”

Troy blinks at her. “They do _not_ – ”

She holds up her hand and counts down. “Jake said it when you showed up at prom in that suit with the red tie. Noah said it when you _moved to town_. Orion said that on his planet, you would have had thirty marriage proposals by now.”

“Orion’s planet was weird,” Troy muses thoughtfully, then shoots her a grin. “And you? When did you say it?”

“I _am_ dating you.”

He chuckles and leans down to kiss her. “I love you, too.”                                                                      

Emma laughs into the kiss and it takes him several moments before he realizes that this is the first time he’s said he loves her. “I love you,” she murmurs back when they part, her smile bright when he pulls her back to kiss her again.


End file.
